The Ghost's Mask
by Sazdx
Summary: Fierce Deity, after being unleashed against Majora, uses what remains of its power to jump into another dimension. Link, oblivious to the mask's will, attempts to continue with his journey, only to be stopped by a mysterious being wearing a purple cloak who gives him the task of restraining the Deity's powers back into its mask. Rated T to be on the safe side.
1. Prologue: Unexpected Meeting

**Prologue:**

**Unexpected Meeting**

* * *

"So it is done…"

The monstrous creature, Majora's wrath, was doubled over, his upper body kept spinning around as if all sense of direction were lost. The lethal hand-whips now laid limply at his sides as his body lifted higher into the air; his head drawn back, twitching with each movement it made.

After what seemed like hours, Wrath –its mouth open– let out a loud growl that echoed around the chamber as it decomposed and rotted in front of the warrior's eyes. A white light engulled them both, making the man raise his hand, covering his eyes.

The body disappeared, fading from existence, leaving the warrior alone in the white space. He uncovered his eyes, his gaze landing on a blue pillar of light that formed where Wrath had disappeared.

Sure of his mission's accomplishment, the young hero knew that it was time to allow the soul of his mask to go back to sleep.

He raised his hands to the back of his head, tugging at the mask's borders, digging his fingers inside and pulling at it as waves of energy surrounded him. The warrior's crimson markings shined brightly as he pulled the mask off.

The young warrior's form shrunk in size, leaving behind a 12 year old child wearing a green tunic, a green hat, leather boots and two belts, one on his hip and one across his chest from his left shoulder to his right hip. This young boy answered to the name of Link.

The boy examined his body to make sure he was back to normal again, but his eyes caught a crimson light coming from the mask in his hand. Cautiously, he lifted the Fierce Deity's mask and saw as the light from the markings on it seemed to fade as if nothing had happened.

Perhaps he was just tired. He hadn't been sleeping for quite a few days now, helping the townspeople with their problems… especially Anju and Kafei.

Link –although being a hero and all– was still a kid and as such he didn't understand very well about these "adult problems" as he called them. However, those two trusted him enough to share their story, and so he gave them his word that they would be together once again. He wouldn't let them down after all they'd been through: from the first letter to Anju to retrieving Kafei's mask from the thief, Sakon.

Despite all the perils, Kafei had arrived in time to see Anju and exchange masks as they promised each other… and tomorrow…

Link smiled at the thought, forgetting for a moment about his tiredness.

The fight was over…

The dawn of a new day was near…

He glanced at Fierce Deity's mask and shrugged. He would worry about that later…

He took off his hat and tucked the mask inside. Wearing it once more, he stepped into the pillar of blue light, letting himself be lifted by the energy as he closed his eyes, giving in to the soothing feeling welling inside him.

In his brief moment of tranquility, he went over the things he had done, hoping the towspeople of Termina actually decided to celebrate the carnival the day after, he was looking forward to watching the celebrations after hearing so much about them. Heck, he even helped the performers in his own way… they'd better put those moves to good use at the carnival! He was never going to dance again…

He smiled and chuckled inwardly; Yes, he was really looking forward to the new dawn.

He felt his body sinking lower, trying to reach the ground, however, he never felt the pull of gravity as he descended. Puzzled, he opened his eyes, only to be welcomed by an unfamiliar and (might he add) bizarre place.

First of all, the space he was in was… green… darker than his clothes and with some shades of blue. He didn't remember being in a place similar to this… so Link decided to look around and try to figure out where this was, his attention taken by all the weird stuff surrounding him.

There were gadgets all over the place… not as scientific as the professor's near Zora Cape… there were weirdly shaped gears, which he kind of recognized to be related to the insides of the Clocktower during his first visit.

Link shivered slightly. The Salesman.

That's right… the Salesman had wanted to retrieve the Majora's Mask after the 3 days… and… it had disappeared after the fight, along with Wrath's form.

Maybe he could explain what happened and… oh boy, was he in trouble…

His worrying stopped as he heard a new sound he hadn't noticed before.

Ticking

However it sounded different from the clocks he was used to in Termina.

He looked up, eyes widening as he saw a bunch of multi-sized clocks that seemed to work differently than Termina's clocks. Curious, he walked towards the nearest one, a square-shaped clock and placed a hand on the surface.

"This is DEFINITELY not the Clock Tower I know…" he said to himself "…at least the salesman isn't in here…" a nervous smile tugged at his lips.

Link tilted his head in thought. If he wasn't in Clock tower… then where—

"Perhaps you'd like an explanation first." An amused voice said behind Link, snapping him back into attention, turning around abruptly and throwing his hands to the sword and shield on his back, arming himself.

In front of him was some kind of… was it a person? Wearing a long purple cloak and holding some kind of staff in one hand. His skin was pale blue and his eyes were red, with some sort of scar across his left eye. His expression was that of amusement, a knowing smile never leaving his face.

"Who…" Link looked slightly down, noticing a tail of some sort coming out of the being's lower half instead of feet. The creature, now that he looked more closely, was actually floating in midair. "Or what are you…?"

The… being merely chuckled in response

"Introductions, very well…" The weird figure raised his staff, making Link tensed, looking for any sign of hostility, and bowed slightly in front of him. "My name is Clockwork and, within this universe, I'm the Master of time."


	2. Chapter 1: Master Meets Hero

**Chapter 1:**

**Master Meets Hero**

* * *

"Master… of Time…?" Link's eyes widened.

"Indeed, though I believe in your universe there is a being with a similar purpose, yet a different title, correct?" Clockwork smiled calmly.

"… The Goddess of Time…" Link looked up at him and scowled "…you certainly don't look like a Goddess to me."

Clockwork merely chuckled in amusement."I'm the representation of the God of Time during this current era, just like the Goddess you speak of is the representation of the same being in your universe. Thus we are known by many names, are pictured differently by people, though in the end, we are one and the same." he smirked at the boy's puzzled face. "Our image simply adapts to those of the different beliefs throughout the universes and the time within them but we all have the ability to see the past, present and all the possible futures." His appearance shifted to that of a toddler for a moment, then to an older version of himself and finally, back to his young adult self to make his point clear.

Link merely watched in awe, understanding that this being — this powerful being — could really control Time at will. It was no use comparing the things he had done when manipulating the timeline with what Clockwork could do.

His power was greater and sparked a sense of respect inside him, thing he only felt for his 'Father', the Great Deku Tree.

"Within this Universe," Clockwork continued, "I took the form of a spirit or a ghost as they are commonly known in the human world."

"A spirit?" Link frowned "I thought spirits could only be seen with-"

"- The lens of truth?" Clockwork smiled knowingly "I am visible at will. Do not worry; they will come in handy when the time is right"

Link scratched his head.

Well, he now knew he was in another universe, in a bizarre place with the Master of Time himself —who was a ghost, nonetheless—, the things he was told were beginning to sound a little complicated for his liking and he was starting to feel tired once more… just great.

"I know you're kind of lost—"

"—No kidding…" Link muttered.

"I would explain more, however, it appears that there's not much time to go in depth." Clockwork waved his staff over some nearby gears and they moved away, showing a screen that lit up right after that. The ghost moved closer towards it and beckoned Link to follow.

On the screen, there was a city Link didn't recognize.

The houses seemed bigger and built quite differently from what he had seen so far in both Hyrule and Termina. There were lots of devices he didn't recognize and in his mind he felt a bit uncomfortable, for it was all too new for him. He looked up at the Master of Time, waiting for an explanation.

The ghost simply said "Times change, young one", he chuckled "This is Amity Park, a city known for its large streak of ghost attacks" as if on cue, a blue ghost from a small man wearing overalls scared a few citizens by appearing and screaming: "I AM THE BOX GHOST!", making Link let out a snort, Keese were far more scary than this guy.

"Of course, there are both harmless ghosts and dangerous ones, and they come in various forms and sizes," Another ghost appeared near the box ghost, zooming through him and taking him away from the citizens. Link couldn't notice much about this one, only that he was a black and white blur with a touch of green. Clockwork continued, "Also, there are both noble and evil ghosts, however it depends on their own obsession and whether they were born from humans as they die or directly from the Ghost Zone."

Link absorbed the new information and asked "…Which kind are you?"

He smiled calmly, "Neither. My form just adapts to the Times since I've been watching over the Timeline even before life itself existed."

The boy nodded in understanding, it was reasonable.

The image from the screen had faded, leaving them in silence. Link pondered about all this. He wondered how it all related to him and why he had been summoned.

Clockwork was the first to break the silence in reply to his unspoken question.

"The spirit you defeated, Majora, is not gone yet"

Link's head snapped up at him looking at him as if he had grown another head.

"That can't be! I—"

"Used all of your power to defeat his three forms releasing the repeated cycle in which the world of Termina was trapped bringing about a brand new day."

Link gapped at him, He had stolen the words from his mouth.

"However, you used the power of the Fierce Deity Mask, which was given to you by Majora himself in an attempt to make it control you as he did with the Skullkid." Clockwork's mouth became a thin line, "and though it didn't work as he planned, thanks to that he obtained a new way of putting not only your world's safety at risk, but ours as well."

The boy was left speechless "…H—how…?"

An image appeared once again as Clockwork waved his staff.

The Link on the screen was standing in white space with the form of Fierce Deity after defeating Majora. This time, the Real Link did notice the strange red glow that came from his markings. The Link on the screen took of his mask and returned to his original form.

Real Link was puzzled. That strange red glow, never had he noticed this type of effect in any of his masks when being removed…

"The growl Majora released by the end of the battle was both in agony of defeat and in lust for vengeance." Link shivered, recalling his future as he fought Ganondorf. He had done the same to trap Zelda and himself in the rubble.

"Part of his soul was trapped within your mask and when you wore it… well..."

"Like what happened to that Ancient Tribe?"

Clockwork nodded "However his first attempt was foiled. You were in control of the power and were not consumed by it because of your own determination of doing what was right." he smiled knowingly but then added, "Unfortunately, the last efforts from Majora called the power hidden inside your mask using it to escape towards this universe."

Link's shoulders slumped. He thought he was already done with Majora and that he really was doing it right… that the world all those people lived in would finally get a chance to live outside those three days as they should be… Link felt terrible. Guilty for having allowed that… that monster to escape and corrupt another universe. Unknown to him or not, it was still his responsibility. He sighed in both guilt and weariness. His job wasn't done yet.

"Is there a way to stop him properly, this time?" He asked.

"There is a possibility, yes" Clockwork waved his staff and the screen faded from view behind the gears once more. He turned to look at the boy in front of him with calm eyes sizing him up. "Are you willing to risk it all for one more chance of stopping Majora?"

A small smile came into the boy's lips, "How could I not be? It's my fault he escaped and if something happened to this universe, it would still be my responsibility." He looked up, eyes full of determination, though there was the slight hint of weariness in there that Clockwork hadn't missed.

The ghost nodded at him "Very well, however, you need to rest." He approached the boy and placed a hand on his shoulder softly but gave him a stern look, "People like you tend to forget about taking care of themselves quite often…" He said with a fond smile.

"I thought you said there was no time?" The boy frowned confusedly at the elder.

"Precisely, you'll see what I mean soon enough." He wore a secretive smile on his face as he said this "In the meantime, I have to inform you that I have prepared a new attire for you to be able to blend in with the people of Amity Park."

"Uh…" Link blinked "I… I think I'm quite comfortable in these, actually. I- I appreciate it, though!" He smiled nervously, these clothes meant a lot to him, he wasn't going to just throw them away! These were like his own signature, a part of who he was.

He smirked and gave him a small medallion. "It's merely an illusion that activates in Amity Park so you won't attract much attention to yourself as you look for Majora. Think of it as one of your masks, they change your appearance so you'll be able to look for Majora in a safer way."

Link pondered about it for a moment; again, Clockwork had a point. That or the fact that his eyelids were feeling heavy influenced his nod.

"What about my equipment?"

He pointed at the medallion he had given Link, "With this, you'll be able to summon them at will."

Link nodded once more and Clockwork put a hand on his back, guiding him through the tower, reaching one floor up and stopping in front of a single door.

"You can use this room as your own." He opened the door, revealing a small room with a bed, a table and two chairs.

Link looked up at Clockwork, who smiled calmly and then decided to go inside.

There wasn't much, but, boy! did that bed look comfy…

Link shook his head slightly and turned back to the ghost "Are you sure it's okay to rest at this point in time?"

The ghost smirked knowingly, "All is as it should be."

Link snorted softly and walked towards the bed, sitting down and smiling at its softness.

In the entrance of the room, Clockwork nodded to himself as he changed into an old man and then turned back to leave the boy to rest.

"Just one thing…" Link's voice was heard softly.

"Yes?" Clockwork turned around and looked at the boy – already laying on top of the bed and looking at the ceiling drowsily— with an amused smile.

"…The hat stays." The ghost smirked and chuckled in response as link drifted off to a long and well earned rest.


	3. Chapter 2: A Normal Day in Amity Park

A brief AN before this chapter.

Guys. Thank you very much for reading and that goes double for the ones who reviewed it. I'm glad that you guys liked the story so far. (Especially since it's my first attempt at writting something.) And also I gotta thank my friend Daruku Janubu for helping me out polishing some parts of the story in general. Well, without further ado...

* * *

**Chapter 2: **

**A Normal Day in Amity Park**

Meanwhile, in Amity Park, Casper high's bell rang announcing the beginning of the day of classes. By then, every student had already gone inside their classrooms to start their lessons… Well, all except for one.

A young ghost boy was flying over the skies of Amity, heading for school as fast as he could manage.

"Darn it! Mr. Lancer is gonna kill me!" said the halfa as he phased through the roof and landed in the janitor's room. A flash of light came from inside and a few seconds later, a raven haired boy came out and sped up through the corridors.

He ran quickly across them and towards his classroom avoiding to fall head first head to the floor several times. On the way, he wished in vain that Mr. Lancer hadn't arrived yet.

He opened the door to the classroom and peeked inside, earning the look of Mr. Lancer and the rest of the class.

The adult raised an eyebrow.

"Late again, Mr. Fenton?"

Danny felt his stomach drop as he rubbed his neck nervously.

"Y… yes, sorry, Mr. Lancer…"

Said man gave him a hard look and then sighed in disappointment as he was already used to his antics… He motioned him to go to his desk.

"Detention after class today, Mr. Fenton."Added the teacher.

Danny sighed and plopped on his desk, receiving a concerned look from his best friends which he dismissed shaking his head and mouthing 'It's fine' before trying to pay attention to Mr. Lancer's lecture.

Sadly, his attempts failed and he ended up falling asleep within the next few minutes.

* * *

"Dude, you ok?" Tucker asked at lunch. "You look worse and even more tired than yesterday…"

Danny sighed in annoyance "Well, try staying up all night because Skulker, Technus and The Box Ghost… — ESPECIALLY the box ghost since he decided to come out every 5 minutes for reasons beyond my reach!— come out to get you nonstop… Eventually you just CAN'T hope to sleep anymore!" Danny raised his arms in emphasis and then banged his head on the desk, resting it there.

Tucker winced. "Wow, harsh…"

Sam smiled sympathetically, seeing his distress. "Well. Look on the bright side. So far, you've managed to avoid Dash almost half through the day."

Danny looked up at Sam and gave her a half smile. She had a point.

However…

"Hey, FENTINA!"

Danny dropped his head on the desk again, a bit harder than before, not knowing whether he should laugh at the irony or shout in frustration.

"You jinxed it, Sam." Tuck snickered.

Sam punched him in the arm and looked apologetically at Danny. "Well, I did say 'Almost'…"

Danny snorted as Tuck rubbed his arm and turned around to see the jock stalking towards their table

"What do you want Dash? I'm seriously not in the mood…" Already expecting what was coming to him.

* * *

"I hate this!"

Danny stormed out of school after Detention, joining his friends who had waited up for him outside.

"I swear, my whole school life is just about being wailed on by Dash, getting bad grades, being late and, of course, spending time in detention!"

"Take it easy Danny… say, why don't you let your parents handle the ghosts for a day or two, you could use the rest."

"You know I can't, Sam…, I'd be even more worried about how they would handle the ghosts… I'm not that worried about my mom since she can handle herself quite well… But my dad's skills with the Fenton Weapons aren't that great. And even Valerie has problems with that equipment of hers."

"Still, it can't hurt to do it once or twice. You need to rest, Danny. Your body can't handle that much stress."

"Huh… Now you sound like Jazz…" Danny smiled tiredly.

"We're all worried about you, dude." Tuck placed a hand on Danny's shoulder and smiled. "Besides, if you're this tired, how are we gonna pull that all-nighter at Doomed for the upcoming tournament?"

Danny perked up and gasped. "That's right! I totally forgot!"

Sam rolled her eyes. "Boys…" But couldn't help but smile at them.

"Well… I… I will try to figure something—" Blue smoke came out of the boy's mouth, "—out."

All three looked at each other and ran towards the next street trying to find the ghost.

Danny yelped as he was hit by a green net and sent flying backwards into an alley.

"Not freaking again!" he quickly checked if there was anyone nearby.

"I'm going ghost!" Two light rings travelled from his midsection across his body, changing his clothes into a black HAZMAT suit with white boots and gloves, his hair color now inverted to white and his normally icy blue eyes turned neon green.

He curled up in a ball and threw his arms out, braking through the net. Danny then lifted himself into the air approaching the offender, Skulker.

"What's wrong, Whelp?" he grinned. "Tired already?"

"As a matter of fact, YES!" He charged up an ectoplasmic ball in his hands and threw it at Skulker, who dodged it as if it was nothing.

Skulker tsked and shook his head in disappointment.

"I thought you'd be giving me more of a challenge, pup." Skulker raised his arm –a gun coming out of it- and pointed it at Danny.

"And I thought you'd be smarter and not underestimate me." Danny smirked. "Especially when I'm with friends", quickly, Danny moved aside and a beam came out of Sam and Tucker's Fenton Wrist Rays hitting a clueless Skulker hard in the chest, sending him backwards.

"Aah!" Skullker crashed into a wall. He grabbed his head and shook it to clear away the dizziness. He opened his eyes to see Danny rushing at him and knocking him with a downward punch into the ground.

Dazed, he looked up in time to see the ghost kid grab his suit's head and taking it off the armor revealing a green blob staring at him with wide eyes.

"Told ya", Danny grinned and reached towards his utility belt grabbing the Fenton Thermos. He uncapped it and beamed it towards the blob, sucking him inside.

Sam and Tuck ran towards him.

"Well, that wasn't so bad." Danny smiled and changed back into Fenton, nodding at them.

"Now to leave Skulk back in the Ghost Zone I suppose."

The three friends walked across the alley about to go back into the street, a cold feeling run up Danny's spine, as if he was being watched, making him stop dead on his tracks.

"Dude, what's wrong?"

"Another ghost?"

Danny turned around and looked towards the alley with a scowl, trying to find the source but found nothing.

"No…, my ghost sense hasn't gone off…" Danny's gaze remained alert as if looking for something.

However, after a minute, he sighed and went back to his friends. "Gee, I think I'm becoming paranoid". Sam smiled sympathetically, and Tucker gave them both a smirk.

He glared at Tucker.

"Come on Guys," they all hurried to Fenton Works.

As the kids left, an eerie laugh echoed around the now empty alley.


	4. Chapter 3: Bad Luck is in the Air

**Chapter 3:**

**Bad Luck is in the Air**

* * *

**BOOM!**

"AH!" Danny sat up on his bed hastily, his eyes darting across the room. "Wha… what was…"

He heard his dad shouting angrily about how the ghosts were sabotaging them so they wouldn't succeed in their inventions.

Danny yawned, calming himself slightly and scratched his head.

So another of those weapons had gone off. Big surprise.

He shook his head softly, getting out of bed and stretched, followed by the familiar sound of his alarm beeping. He glanced at it and turned it off lazily.

Seriously, at this pace, he wouldn't even need an alarm clock anymore. He wasn't used to it yet, but explosions were very common at home lately with his parents all excited about catching the ghost boy… A.K.A. him.

Needless to say, though he was grateful in some way to his parents' failure with their anti-ghost weapons, he felt bad for them. The designs didn't seem to agree with his parents so well lately.

Danny shook off his drowsiness and went to take a quick shower, after that, he got dressed up for school. All clean and ready, he made his way down the stairs but not before taking a look at the clock. It was kinda early, but hey, at least he could try to get to school on time…

Once in the living room he noticed a faint trail of smoke growing thicker the closer he got to the kitchen. He poked his head through the doorframe to look at a strange –but not unusual- sight.

A smoking piece of metal was covering up space in the table which was also covered in green goo, said substance also splattered across the walls and floor. What a mess. Jazz had stepped aside in a futile attempt to continue reading her new psychology book: "How To Keep a Cool Composure Around Embarrassing Parents". The book, however, seemed to not be helping her as much as she hoped. Trying to remain calm, she flipped the pages -continuing to read- but by the slight twitch on her eyebrow and the ashes covering her clothes… she wouldn't be able to pull it off for long.

His parents weren't as lucky as Jazz, though. They both had been directly in the way of the explosion and they were covered from head to toe in goo as well as ashes. Needless to say, as much as they tried to wipe themselves clean, they weren't succeeding.

Their son shook his head, inwardly being glad that he wasn't there to join in their sticky problem… plus, Jazz would probably snap soon enough. "I'm not even gonna ask…" he muttered as he walked towards the counter, grabbing a piece of bread that seemed to be ash and goo free. "Uh, mom, dad, Jazz, I have to get going to school right now, It's kinda late so uh… yeah, see you!" He dashed outside before they could check on the clock and left them to clean up their mess.

Once outside of the house, he checked his surroundings as always before turning ghost and flying through the sky towards Casper High.

"Well, I got out early from home and I might be early to class for once. If all goes well, I might be able to avoid detention today!" He said with a fist pump… just as blue mist came out from his mouth.

Danny facepalmed in frustration. "Oh for the love of…" he stopped in mid air and searched around. "Show yourself!"

"I AM THE BOX GHOST LORD OF EVERYTHING SQUARE!" said ghost appeared from nowhere in front of Danny, who in turn smirked. It was only the Box Ghost. "BEWARE!"

"Great…" he groaned while he charged a beam of ectoplasm in his hands and shot him, making him lose balance and using that opening to search for the thermos.

"YOU CANNOT TRAP ME IN THAT CILINDRICAL PRISON OF DOOM!"

Danny raised an unamused eyebrow and pressing the button to suck him inside and capping the Thermos once more.

"I should've known. Geez Boxy, you show up in the worst moments…" he tucked the thermos on his utility belt and prepared to fly off again towards school. "Come on, it's still early…", he muttered.

He was shot back by a ball of electric energy and was thrown towards a wall. "Don't think so, Whelp!"

Danny shook his head and grabbed it slightly. "Ow… Me and my big mouth…"

Looking up, he saw who was behind the attack this time: Technus. He groaned. "Do ghosts have some kind of problem with my education!?" he shot up towards Technus, who repelled him with an electric shield. "This'll be a looooong day…"

* * *

"So… let me get this straight…"

Tucker leaned close to Danny and talked to him in whispers.

"Dash actually LOST the last football game?"

"Yes."

"And also Kwan made some kind of wrong move while playing and almost hurt some of the other jocks in that same game?"

"Yes."

"And said jocks – Dash and Kwan included – want to blow steam by wailing on us geeks even harder than our usual toll?"

"Yes"

"Ok, now I understand why we're hiding in the Janitor's closet."

Danny snorted

"No kidding… Tuck, we're gonna be dead if they manage to find us!"

Tuck shivered lightly at the thought.

"When did you find out about that?"

"Yesterday after being wailed on by Dash; and this morning by Kwan before I went to Mr. Lancer's Class…" Danny sighed in frustration. This day was getting better and better…

The afro american boy tried lifting the mood a little for his friend's sake, "So, jocks or ghosts, Danny. Which are worse?"

"Well, considering I can actually defend myself against ghosts and that Jocks and the rest of the A-Listers are on top of my "Who-To-Avoid-If-Ever-Get-A-Job-At-Nasty-Burger" List… I'd say Jocks." Danny finished off with a smirk.

Both boys snickered for a moment and Tuck glanced at his PDA, checking to see how much of lunch time was left.

"What's keeping Sam, by the way?" Danny tilted his head. "I haven't seen her at all today and I'm kinda getting worried."

"Well, knowing Sam, she would be able to take on any of the jocks if they actually dared to challenge her."

"I don't know Tuck… This day has been an utter disaster ever since I woke up… or was woken up." Danny finished with a bitter tone.

"Oh, come on! whats the worst that could... oh wait... Hmm… well, I can imagine Sam and Paulina meeting and Sam sending her to the nurse's office." Tuck snickered at the thought.

"Dude, don't even say it! Considering she almost killed Paulina while wearing Dora's pendant…" he shudders. "I don't know if I can handle a royally pissed Sam anyways…"

Stomps were heard in the hallway and heading towards the Janitor's room. Both boys shuddered slightly. If it weren't for the distinct sound of combat boots, they would've thought the jocks had found them.

Still, not even the jocks were a match for who appeared opening the door with a bang.

Sam was angry… No, she was PISSED beyond belief.

The boys looked at her stunned, they didn't know it they should gawk at her angry face or at the…

"Don't. Even. Say. It."

Sam closed the door and stomped his way towards the boys, who were feeling quite scared at the moment. She sat down and for a while, no one spoke.

Danny gulped, he opened his mouth daring to be the first to break the silence. Yeah, because he had to be the brave one, didn't he?

"Uh… Sam? W-what happened…?"

"My parents happened. They managed to get rid of ALL the black paint in the whole house… even the cans I had hidden in various unused rooms! I couldn't even call for backup because they took any means of communication away," Danny and Tuck just listened to their friend. They knew that Sam's parents wanted everything to be traditional and to stay on the 'bright' side of life, which was the complete opposite of their daughter. But still, this was unheard of.

"We had a big discussion, which caused me to be late for school – sorry about that, by the way – because they insisted on me wearing anything with colors other than purple and black. In order to get my parents off my back my mother made me wear this… this… thing." She made a face at her coat. A HOT PINK coat. "And I cannot dye it, take it off or give it to anyone or even burn it… and I swear that's the only thing I want to do with this. I hate that they are trying to get me to use things that are just not me. Trying to shape me with THEIR likes and ignoring my OWN opinion!"

Danny shook his head. "That's brutal! That's crossing the line…"

"So says the guy that has to learn to catch ghosts by using the weapons built by his own parents to catch him especially." Said Tuck with a grin.

Danny grinned softly.

"It has its advantages…"

Sam snorted softly but still frowned, "I swear, if they weren't my parents, they'd pay for it dearly!"

"Uh, Sam, relax. I know you're upset at your parents and I can't really blame you for it. But it could've been worse, right…?"

She turned to face Danny. "Like what…?" She deadpanned.

"uh… well…" Danny scratched the back of his head thinking of something as he kept his eyes on her amethyst ones. "They could've made you wear all pink… or actually followed you into school, also revealing the fact that you're rich to everyone and… that could have been worse because of the sudden attention the rest of students would give you."

Sam raised an eyebrow and sighed softly.

Danny blushed and shrugged softly. "I don't know Sam. As I said, I know and understand why you're angry but it's not like we can do much about our parents' behavior. Take my parents and their obsession with ghosts for example. I can't control that and it still makes me mad, but in the end you can't change the fact that they're our parents, right?" He finished with a slight smile, which Sam returned, calming down slightly.

Tuck smiled at both friends and tried to joke a bit with them, trying to cheer them up.

A few minutes later, with their spirits lifted, the goth smiled and asked something that had been bugging her since she found her friends.

"So, now that that's out of the way..., mind telling me why you are hiding in the Janitor's closet?"

Danny sighed and told Sam about what a horrible day it had been in general. "So," he summed up, "we got an accident at home, meaning the explosion, a… pink wearing goth…" he earned a glare and a punch in the arm for that one. He kinda deserved it. "A bunch of angry jocks terrorizing school…"

"Dude, I also heard that Mr. Lancer lost one of his favorite books and was feeling very depressed by it…"

"And as I came to school, I overheard Valerie mumbling to herself. She mentioned something about her suit malfunctioning…"

"So pretty much everyone is having a bad day…" Danny finished lost in thought.

"Coincidence?"

He sighed. "Knowing my luck, this was probably a ghost…" shaking his head he added "I already got suspicions on whom, but maybe we should check out on Amity Park for clues…"

"Who do you have in mind?"

"Johnny 13 and his Shadow of bad luck; or maybe Spectra since she could be feeding on their misery," he shuddered. "Still… I haven't seen any of them lately, besides Johnny had agreed on visiting as a pastime, probably to drool over girls and make Kitty jealous, not to cause trouble, so he's unlikely to have been the culprit…"

"So, we're asking around after school, then?"

"After detention."

"Same thing."

The three friends laughed slightly, stopping as they heard the bell, making them realize that lunch had ended. They headed to their next class with a groan: Math.

* * *

The three kids met at their usual spot, The Nasty Burger, after they split up right after detention. Danny leaned over the desk, prompting his friends to do the same and talk in a hushed voice in case they could be heard.

"What did we find out in the end?"

"Well," Tucker took out his PDA, fiddling with some of the buttons and pulling up a list. "quite a lot actually, we found that 3 out of 5 of the students had lost something of sentimental value, including Paulina's make-up kit, Kwan's favorite jacket, Mikey's spare glasses… the list goes on…"

"Not only that, Danny. There were some people stating that their pet had died of unknown reasons as well as some break ups…" Sam trailed off.

Danny propped his head up with his hand deep in thought. "Pretty much the same on my part, adding some disappearances, fights…" He shook his head. "I don't know guys, I don't think even Spectra would ever be able to pull something like that..." he frowned. "Heck, not even Skullker would be able to pull that."

"Unless you're an exotic specimen for his collection." Tuck intervened with a grin.

"First of all. Ew. Second. Yes, but obviously that wouldn't apply to most of these disappearances."

"Worth a try." Tucker snickered.

Sam shook her head in annoyance at the situation. "What now?"

"Well, if this problem is ghost related, we should probably check on the Ghost Zone and ask around."

Danny's friends agreed and headed over to Danny's house to take a trip to the Ghost Zone.


End file.
